So tomorrow’s dance just got bigger. And it’s awesome and I’m so excited. Tomorrow, as I promised, is an art teacher from a junior high school here in Davenport. In the dance she is also painting. It’s a painting dance! And the painting is truly beautiful. So we asked her if she’d let us auction it off and she said yes.

Tomorrow over at www.dancingforwater.blogspot.com we’ll hold the auction. It will begin tomorrow once Sheila’s rain dance is posted and go until Friday at 5 p.m. This gives you all who wait until after work time to bid. Now, if you REALLY want this and are afraid you might lose on an auction, feel free to email dancingforwater@gmail.com and give us your maximum bid; then we can bid for you. (Kind of like ebay but way better)

This is original. Your entire donation will go to Water for Christmas. So bid and bid high. Because it’s beautiful and every dollar counts. And…she’s worth it.

For some reason it’s not letting me upload pictures so go over to Leslie’s to see pictures and here her talk about it much better than myself. Thanks for your support. Your passion is so thick I can feel it here. You are such blessings to me!

So…I’m one of those crazy water lovers. I pretty much drink only water (without lemon). I don’t drink pop, or coffee, or juice. I have a glass of milk with my dinner every once in a while but that’s about it. I especially love water on those hot summer days when you’ve been outside for a while and you can’t wait to get inside for your big glass of ice cold water.

I can’t imagine if that water wasn’t there! I mean I don’t just have clean water to drink….I use clean water for quite a few things!! I wash the dishes with clean water, I do laundry with clean water, I brush my teeth with clean water, and I bathe in clean water!!! I guess I don’t think about it very often because I was born in a very blessed and prosperous nation and this is what I’m used to. It blows my mind thinking that there are millions of people in this world without an essential thing like clean water!

So when my cousin, Tesi, asked me to dance for water how could I say no?? Let’s just cut one Christmas gift out and give WATER this year to those who are in need! Thanks!

38 years ago, Frank and I became husband and wife. Glory be to God, our lives have been blessed with freedom, love, and clean water, and food. We have suffered nothing compared to what the rest of the world suffers.

As a mother of 4, I cannot imagine how it feels to watch my babies drink filthy, contaminated water. Please donate now to Water for Christmas. Just $10 and 100% of your donation…100%……goes to developing wells and digging for fresh, clean, water for folks who need so much. Won’t you please dig deep in your pockets so that wells can be dug deep to provide for others?

Shirley Chisholm, congresswoman in the US House, once said “Service is the rent you pay for room on this planet.” Please help us serve others.

God bless you for your time, your efforts, and your donation.
Grace and peace, Frank and Terre

So in true Christmas spirit, Amy’s mom is making Water for Christmas ornaments. And they’re not the kind you will find at the garage sales. Oh no, these are beautiful, hand crafted and awesome. Seriously awesome. You just have to go here and buy them, they’re only $6.50 and EVERYTHING goes to Water for Christmas, so I’d probably buy tens of hundreds if I were you. Okay, okay here they are.

Tomorrow my in-laws are exposed…with regards to dancing anyway. I think you’ll fall in love with them. It’s fairly easy to do. I did the first time I heard Zach call them “mommy” and “daddy” (and he was a sophomore in college). It’s only strengthened in the last 7 years of knowing them. Seriously, you might cry and want to jump through the screen to hug them.

Then on Wednesday look for someone in Alabama. Thursday is an art teacher from a local junior high dancing as she paints. Friday…well that one’s a surprise!

I hope you’re enjoying the dancing. I’ve never seen so many people become so crazy about water after doing something as simple as dance. Joy begets donating begets telling everyone you know begets fresh, clean water. I heart the word begets.

I ate crackers and cheese in bed last night. The crackers are called “Fire Crackers”, a recent gift from a friend’s wedding. The crackers set my mouth on fire. So I gulped down a glass and a half of water. Icy, cold, delicious water. And I thought about the little video that Jeff and I shot on Saturday night.

Why dance for water? Why give money to this cause and not any of the other million good causes out there?

Well, why not? It doesn’t have to be a lot. It could be the $5 you don’t spend on a bagel and coffee this morning. These people don’t have water; they probably don’t have a lot to eat either. I bet you won’t miss this one breakfast.

This cause speaks to me. Water is life; water is sustenance. I’ve been worrying about this planet running out of drinkable water for years. And if there is still drinkable water to drink, why should 1.1 billion people lack access to it?

So, I danced. I danced in my Halloween costume and I’m sending my money to buy some people who need water access to Water for Christmas. What do you want for Christmas this year? I bet it’s a want, not a need. Not something that sustains life. So, give water.

WHY NOT?
Hello, My name is Allie Corbin and I am a senior at Davenport Central. I have been pretty fortunate in my life…clothes on my back, a roof over my head, an education and most of all I have CLEAN WATER EVERYDAY! Did you know 1 and 6 people dont have clean water? Here in the US most people do not have this problem. In fact, I bet most people don’t even think about it being a problem. In the United States people spend over 400 billion dollars on Christmas presents and all we need is a fraction of that to provide wells for everyone in Africa to have clean water. When I hear that we spend that much money for presents my mouth drops! We are spending that much money on stuff that is not needed when children are dying in Africa because that dont have clean water that is NEEDED for survival.

I did this project because it is SO easy. I love to dance! While I’m going through my senior year I am trying to figure out what college I want to go to in a year. College. I’m thinking of college while children in Africa just want water and they will be the happiest kids. I think about all the times I have been disappointed because I didn’t get something I wanted and I feel GUILTY! When my friend Leslie told me about this project a million things were going through my mind about how easy it was and how fun it will be.

All you have to do is dance! I know that my friends and I dance all the time in the car, at school, in the park, and we even made music videos! If you think about it you can help raise money and awareness just by dancing. How much easier does it get? If you don’t want to dance alone then grab a friend. I hope when you read this in your head you’re thinking ‘thats it’, because yep that is it! All you have to do is dance! So do it!!! DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE!!! And DONATE as well 🙂

Dailah got to stay up a little late tonight because the boys were having “issues” with listening to their parents today. Oddly enough our 2-year-old remained attentive and vigilant with regards to our requests; which was a notable difference from most days.

She and I played catch with a balloon and I can honestly say I was laughing so hard my belly hurt. The girl has mad comedic timing, it truly petrifies me to think how she’ll shape that in the future. I have no doubts a gal like me could become quite a good charicature for a comic. Terrifying to think what she could say about me, plenty of good material.

We met last week to chat about Water for Christmas. This was Zeke and Kora’s reaction when Jody pulled out the computer. It’s a testament to her passion that she’s getting it all done.

Amy and her baby boy who was the calmest of the bunch. She did mention that “normal” to her is having a foot in a bag that she was sewing an Africa on…so that should tell you something.

This was Dailah’s face the vast majority of our time spent at Cassie’s. Cassie also had a youngster clinging to her…suffice it to say the kids might feel a bit neglected. For the cause, right?

Come on

Precious.

Look at those pants. Perfect!

That’s how much you all have donated so far to Water for Christmas. That’s awesome.

I admit, when I first heard the tally I was a bit disappointed. I went to bed last night dreaming of a well being built already. But its not my timing, none of this is my timing or my desires. This is definitely God-inspired and it’s so exciting to watch.

$3200 is a big deal, in just over a week $3200 is a really big deal. If you all are anything like me, you’re probably researching charity: water, praying and looking at your finances. Then you’ll donate. I trust you’ll do it when you’re convinced this needs to be done. Studies show the amount donated increases the longer people wait to make their donation. So I’ll run with that.

Had the pleasure of taping the Central High School students who recently danced for water. I love that idea…high schoolers taking literal and metaphorical action. You should’ve seen how excited they all were about water. It might not translate into big donations and that’s okay. Because I truly believe those high school students will be huge advocates for the world and those who are hurting as they get older. In 5, 10 years you all might know them by name and perhaps it started because they saw how simple it was to get involved in something like this. That’s pretty powerful in the gospel according to Tesi. If we can raise their generation up to live their life with their eyes wide open and their hearts soft then imagine what they could be capable of!

I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on myself quite a bit in the last couple of days. I’ve realized I really love having a purpose in life besides that of wife, mother, daughter, sister, in-law, aunt, cousin, etc. This water for Christmas campaign will last longer than Christmas for me. It’s stuck, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop until everyone has the vital stuff I enjoy so much. So just be prepared for that. We’ll push hard for the next few weeks and after that don’t be completely surprised if you all get presents of water from me ALL THE TIME. I doubt I’ll ever be able to go to bed or wake up in the morning without dreaming dreams of water. We’ll see.

Such a relaxed Saturday for the family. Must post pictures soon. Oh, and the Quad City Times article on Water for Christmas was on the front page paper today. You can read it here. The thought of thousands more hearing about Water for Christmas is enough to make me cry…but you all know I do that too easily so that’s not saying much. Enjoy!

Man, the days and weeks are flying by here at hotflawedmama. I can hardly believe Thanksgiving is in another 2 weeks. Could it be true?

Our social worker came yesterday to do her final post-placement report. 6 months. Since this was the last one she’ll do (we are responsible for a new one every year until Tariku turns 18) I thought perhaps there’d be more pop and jazz. But there wasn’t. We raved about how well he’s doing (because he is) and she sat and listened. She left with a quick “good luck” and I offered to plan, organize and run any Ethiopian adoption weekend we might want to have in the state of Iowa. I hope that comes to fruition.

I’ve been missing Ethiopia more and more lately. My brother and sister-in-law are officially waiting for their referral and it makes me so very jealous to know they’ll be in that beautiful land before I will. I’m missing Ethiopia, and thinking about it and completely upset with myself at how little we’re doing to bring Tariku’s culture here. We dance to Ethiopian music every day and have been to an ET restaurant a few times. It’s just not enough.

Blah. In other news…Water for Christmas makes it’s print debut tomorrow. Stay tuned for that dealy-o posted tomorrow.

Oh and then there’s another dance. Made by high school students here locally. High school students dancing for water. They’re awesome and are refusing to hold their enthusiasm for “Water for Christmas” in anymore. Who can blame them?

My sister (hotflawedmama), with her friends, has been sponsoring projects that give aide to those in need of help. If you, like me, are an avid follower of her blog, she is passionate about the needs of others, but this need is big! Huge! GINORMOUS! (Merriam Webster approved!)

Water is a necessity of life, and to sit back and question what my life would be without access to a healthy supply…it’s just unimaginable. So when my sister was brainstorming about ways to help raise money to build wells in Africa, (since, like me, she is not so good at the crafty stuff) she came up with dancing! I thought, “Yeah sure I would pay to see you dance, love the idea!!” Then she says, “Oh and by the way you will be dancing too.”

Hmmmm…What wait a minute I typically only dance for my dog, but people?!? Talk about coming out of my comfort zone, because let me tell you, I do not like getting up in front of people and doing anything (I’m the shy one, by the way). But this is what this is all about right?!? Getting just a little uncomfortable? I am not even feeling a fraction of what these people feel every day when they aren’t getting any water. So I hope you enjoy the little dance, and Hunter thanks for joining me!

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” –Winston Churchill